Hello! And thank you for stopping by to find out more about me and my books!
I grew up on a Midwestern farm, feeding lambs on the bottle, riding horses, and hunting mushrooms in the woods. In the winter, I crunched through crusted snowdrifts in moonlight that shimmered across crystalline fields.
In the summer, I whacked weeds from the soybeans on sultry sunny days. To avoid farm work, I hid in the hayloft under a pile of purring cats while reading mysteries, scary stories, and books about wild animals. But I also loved my grandfather’s National Geographic magazines. Those monthly trips to farflung places planted the seeds of wonder and curiosity about landscapes and cultures so different from my own.
As an adult, I hiked at midnight in the summer sun on Norway’s Lofoten Islands, heard the penguins bray at Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and watched Mt. Cook turn pink at sunset in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
I snorkeled above Giant Clams along the Great Barrier Reef, swam with sharks in Tahiti and chatted with dolphins in the Indian Ocean, had a loaf of bread ripped from my hands by a battalion of baboons in Botswana, hiked in the Amazon highlands of Machu Picchu, peered westward across Asia from the top of the Great Wall of China, and was startled awake by howler monkeys in Costa Rica.
Throughout my travels, I experienced the kindness of strangers who often became fleeting friends. Planet Earth may seem immense, but we are all connected in ways we may never know.
I now live with my family (and hyperactive herding dog, Wrigley) near the rugged and remarkable Pacific Coast that offers a dose of inspiration and awe whenever I step outside.
